Holland keeps working toward rounding out game with Syracuse Crunch

Syracuse Crunch forward Peter Holland began his career with the team last year by making the hard look easy.

He joined the team from Guelph of the OHL. Three games, three goals, three assists. That’s the type of splash worthy of someone taken by Anaheim No. 15 overall in the 2009 draft.

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a fluke,” Holland said of his quick success. “I set a bar (for himself).”

Everyone was duly impressed by Holland’s obvious potential, but the Ducks are a tough sell. They know what he can do with the puck, that’s why they drafted him. The microscope on him this season is set up to see what he can do without it.

And that’s a picture still very much coming into focus.

“He has to be a harder player to play against,” said Syracuse assistant general manager Bob Ferguson. “The little intangible parts of his game that will make him a complete player. Is it happening every night on a consistent basis? No. But that’s why players are at this level. The positive thing is he is aware of what he has to work on.”

Holland, 20, is a studious type who thinks through his challenges. He was a good student in school and doesn’t like to waste time off the ice, so he plans on taking an on-line college course in macro-economics.

He and roommate Matt Kennedy recently went shopping for a pair of Snuggies to last through the Syracuse winter. When they ran across a pair of Teletubbies costumes, it occurred to them they had their Halloween outfits and snow blankets all rolled into one. The two wore them to a team Halloween outing.

“A Teletubby is a Snuggy if you don’t wear a hat,” reasoned Kennedy, Holland’s teammate in Guelph. “He’s a little more serious than I am. He’s a real focused guy.”

On the ice, Holland has always zoned in on scoring. Last season, he produced 37 goals and 51 assists in 67 games for Guelph. Whatever mistakes he made or brief effort that lagged was excused by the reality that he was still by far the best player in the game.

“In junior, you could turn it over, have the skill and strength to get back,” Holland said. “In this league (the AHL), teams capitalize on turnovers. I know when I make a mistake out there. If you play being worried about making a mistake, you are not going to play very well.”

By that analysis, Holland has taken a couple too many shifts with a wrinkled brow this season.

Holland was goal-less through his first seven games this year before potting two against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 28. The slump-busters were greatly appreciated but neither was classic Holland razzle-dazzle. The first was a rebound from outside the crease and the second was an overdue break, a swipe that went off a Penguin and into the net.

Otherwise, Holland has frequently been a bit player in the Crunch’s attack, with a modest 23 shots, two goals and three helpers in nine games.

“I got some bounces last year that maybe haven’t gone my way yet. I’m not worried about my point level,” Holland said.

“I’ve played a long time with Pete. He’s a super-skilled guy, one of the smartest players I’ve played with,” Kennedy said. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself. The points will come for him. As soon as he puts a few in, I think they’ll take off.”

Ferguson has no doubt about that, but he said Holland has to change the math a bit. At Guelph, Ferguson said, Holland had the puck on his stick maybe 75 percent of the time. In the pros, prospects like Holland spend roughly that same amount of time trying to get the biscuit.

Ferguson said he wants to see the north-south effort that creates those scoring chances, via prickliness on the forecheck and the tenacity fighting to create turnovers.

“There’s obviously an adjustment period coming to this league. I think I’ve done OK so far, trying to create opportunities for teammates,” Holland said. “At this level, when you do get the puck, it’s only on your stick for a fraction of a second. It’s all about going to the right areas to get the puck, and get it back (from teammates). Guys are so much more positionally sound.”

Sounds good in theory, but Holland knows his potential creates the expectation he’ll be able to turn that into execution very soon.

“At some point, you have to want to do it for yourself,” he said. “It’s pressure on yourself to try to get to that next level. The majority of players don’t go from juniors to the NHL. I’m trying to have as much fun as I can, see where it takes me.”